PHOENIX, June 23 - The
nine-member National Gambling Impact Study Commission, appointed by President Clinton and
the bipartisan congressional leadership, has now released its two-year, $5 million-report
on the social and economic impact of legalized gambling. And as most studies done by a
committee, the Commission's conclusions were ambivalent and ambiguous enough to allow both
proponents and opponents of gambling to use segments of the report to bolster their
positions.

The Commission said gambling's positive economic impact was easy to identify, including
the transformation of "sleepy backwaters" into thriving communities, the end of
chronic poverty on Indian reservations where casinos have been established, and the
phenomenal growth of Las Vegas, the nation's preeminent gambling mecca.

But they said there was also "a different tale of lives and families devastated by
problem gambling, of walled-off oases of prosperity surrounded by blighted communities, of
a massive transfer of money from the poor to the well-off, of a Puritan work ethic giving
way to a pursuit of easy money."

In other words, the "get rich quick" life's philosophy, which is transforming
America from a nation of producers to a nation of gamblers.

The report said that Americans lost $50 billion in gambling last year and that
"there is no end in sight" to the growth of gambling.

"Without a pause and reflection, the future does indeed look worrisome," the
commission said. "Were one to use the experience of the last quarter century to
predict the evolution of gambling over the next, a likely scenario would be for gambling
to continue to become more and more common, ultimately omnipresent in our lives and those
of our children, with consequences no one can profess to know."

Meanwhile, two days before the Commission released its findings, which included 76
recommendations, the Gallup poll had found that legalized gambling in America enjoys broad
public acceptance, reflecting the steadily increasing role that lotteries, casinos and
other games of chance have come to play in the nation's culture.

Nearly two-thirds of American adults approve of legal gambling, a Gallup poll said
Wednesday (June 16). Three-quarters of those surveyed said they approve of state
lotteries, while 67 percent said that opening a casino helps a community's economy.

Thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia now run lotteries; commercial casinos
operate in 10 states, and Indian tribes have opened casinos in at least 22 states.

Almost half of those polled favored maintaining the current level of legal gambling,
while 22% favored expansion, 16% wanted to roll it back and 13% supported a gambling ban.

"There is a clear distinction in Americans' minds about the economic benefits of
casinos and the social impact on the communities in which they operate," Gallup
reported.

Legalized gambling "is creating a compulsive gambling problem in this
country," said 55% of the adults surveyed, and 68% said they believe sports betting
leads to cheating or fixing games.

The gambling industry may face a popularity problem in the future, as the teen-agers
who were polled, more than the adults, saw a dark side to gambling.

Only 52% of teen-agers polled said they approve of legal gambling, compared with
two-thirds of the adults. Asked to assess the statement that gambling harms respect for
the value of hard work, 58% of the teens agreed strongly or somewhat, compared with 43% of
adults.

The presidential Commission's findings "will act like the surgeon general's 1964
report on smoking and health - a wake-up call for America on the dangers of
gambling," said Tom Grey, executive director of the National Coalition Against
Legalized Gambling, told the Washington Post (June 18).

"I am even more convinced now that gambling is a destroyer," James C. Dobson,
president of the conservative Christian organization Focus on the Family, told the Post.

Richard C. Leone, president of the Century Foundation, took aim at government officials
who profess disapproval of gambling but use it to generate revenue rather than raise
taxes. "The hypocrites on gambling are the governors, the state legislators, the
members of Congress who say 'personally I'm against gambling but we need Powerball,'
" he told the Post.

The Commission had also identified more than 15.4 million pathological or problem
gamblers in the country, who represent about 15% of the gambling industry's revenues.

And it said that gambling has grown ten-fold since 1975. At least one form of legalized
wagering is conducted in 47 states, the Commission noted.

In 1997, Americans spent more than $47 billion on gambling, compared to $81 billion on
video, audio and computer equipment, $52 billion on publications and $6 billion on movie
tickets.

And Now, a Story Behind This Gambling Story...

So that was the gambling story, as told by the Clinton-appointed Commission, whose pro-
and con-gambling recommendations are guaranteed to produce a typical Washington gridlock
which follows a two-year, $5 million delay.

And now, here's a story behind the gambling story:

O.J. Simpson goes free after killing two people. What message does the outcome of that
murder trial send to the American public?

Same as that noted by Solon, a Greek philosopher who lived c. 630-c.555 B.C.:

"Laws are like spider
webs.

If some poor weak creature comes up against them-it is caught.

But the bigger one can break through and get away."

---

"O.J. Clinton" goes free after killing the U.S. Constitution, allowing this
President to go on murdering thousands of people in the Balkans. What message does the
outcome of that impeachment trial send to the American public?

Same as that noted by Solon, a Greek philosopher who lived c. 630-c.555 B.C.

---

"O.J. Symington" goes free after being convicted for fraud, allowing this
former Arizona governor to go on sinning with impunity. What message does the outcome of
that fraud trial send to the American public?

Same as that noted by Solon, a Greek philosopher who lived c. 630-c.555 B.C.

---

"O.J. Gambling Commission" delivers a few gentle slaps on the wrists of the
Las Vegas gamblers, without ever even touching on the world's greatest gambling casino -
Wall Street. What message does the outcome of that study send to the American public?

Same as that noted by Solon, a Greek philosopher who lived c. 630-c.555 B.C.

---

By now, we hope you're getting the message. The American society is being corrupted by
an addiction worse than drugs. For, it impoverishes many more people, while creating an
illusion of prosperity and feeling good. Just like drugs. Until the day of reckoning
comes...

Clinton's gambling Commission spent two years and $5 million of taxpayers dollars
studying the $50 billion or so casino industry.

In 1997, for example, American households and non-profit organizations held $5.7
trillion in stockmarket equities, according to the 1997 New York Stock Exchange "Fact
Book" - a 10-fold increase since 1970.

Together with the institutional gamblers, the Wall Street casino was a $13 trillion
industry in 1997, a gambling sin 277 times greater than that of the penny-ante Las Vegas
or Atlantic City players.

The amount of money the Wall Street sharks are turning over these days is the
equivalent of 1.8 times the nation's GDP.